UK-based specialist shipping company Robert Wynn & Sons beached its heavy lift/ro-ro barge Terra Marique in northwest Wales to deliver a 155-tonne transformer for a National Grid substation at Trawsfynydd.
The 80 m x 16.5 m flat-bottomed barge collected the transformer in Rotterdam before heading to Traeth y Graig Ddu (Black Rock Sands beach). The whole beach landing operation took under 12 hours with the Terra Marique manoeuvring onto the beach under its own power at high water, and then as the tide receded, the final 200 m of the 330 m of aluminium trackway was laid.
Once all the trackway was laid, extension ramps were installed. The transformer, which was loaded on a 12-axle trailer, was then driven carefully off the barge and up the beach. Terra Marique refloated and departed on the next high tide.
Working for Allelys, this project was a replication of an operation Robert Wynn & Sons carried out in 2020, which HLPFI reported on here. The beach landing solution for that project was proposed to avoid disruption at Porthmadog Harbour, the traditional port for access to Trawsfynydd power station and substation.
The beach landing was several months in the planning with a requirement to obtain a Marine License and ecological consents from Natural Resources Wales, along with permissions from the Crown Estate and Gwynedd Council. Andy Manners, Robert Wynn & Sons’ general manager, explained: “While the Terra Marique is purpose built for such operations, and having carried out a previous beach landing at Black Rock Sands in 2020 as well as similar operations in Hampshire and Pembrokeshire, working in such a sensitive environment there is always detailed planning and collective working required to successfully carry out such a challenging operation.
“The beach was left as we found it, and all my colleagues and those from Allelys, Sunbelt Rentals, GSS and Gwynedd Council worked tirelessly to ensure the successful delivery of the transformer.”
